Searching for Battle Info

My father, an Army Pfc, was killed in WWII, when I was barely 6, on Dec 8, 1944. He was in Company A, 17th Battalion, 5th Regiment, 179th Infantry, 7th Army, and had been in theater only a month or so when he was killed.

I’m hoping that one of you historians can help me determine where his organization was fighting, at the time, and what major offensive, or defensive they were involved with. I believe that he was in the Alsace-Lorraine area between Germany and France, if that helps. He is buried in the US National Cemetery in St. Avold, France near the border across from Stuttgart.

I am trying to update our Family tree on Ancestry.Com with accurate data, and also establish a more detailed family record.

I'm sorry, but your unit designations don't make sense. 17th Battalion? Battalions were not numbered like that, especially if they were part of a regiment, where they were numbered 1-3. Independent battalions had three numbers, usually, but when they had only two numbers, they were not numbered that low.
You gave company, battalion, regiment. Usually the next unit given is a division, but you gave 179th, but there was no 179th Infantry Division. There is a 179th Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 45th Infantry Division and served in the 7th Army areas. The 5th Infantry Regiment was part of the 71st Infantry Div, but fought with the 100th Division very late in the war. Both the 71st and 100th fought in the 7th Army's area.

I guess what I am saying, you need to look at the unit designation more closely so we can get correct information.

The U.S. Third Army resumed its pursuit of the enemy across France early in September1944, after a brief halt because of a shortage of fuel. Except at Metz, where extremelyheavy fortifications and resistance were encountered, the U.S. Third Army advancedrapidly and crossed the Moselle River. By late September, Nancy was liberated and ajuncture with the U.S. Seventh Army, which was advancing northward from the beachesof southern France, was made near Epinal. Upon the joining of these two Armies, a solidAllied front was established extending to the Swiss border.Throughout October, the two Armies pushed aggressively eastward againstincreasingly strong resistance. The U.S. Third Army drove toward the Saar River and theU.S. Seventh Army into the Vosges Mountains, as the enemy fortress at Metz continuedto resist. On 8 November 1944, the U.S. Third Army launched a major offensive toward

the Saar River. During this offensive, the main fortress at Metz was encircled and it

capitulated on 22 November. Its outer forts, however, did not surrender until 13December. Bypassing this resistance, the U.S. Third Army continued to advance,capturing Saarguemines on 6 December 1944. By mid-December, several bridgeheadshad been established across the Saar River and the U.S. Third Army had begunpreparations for breaching the Siegfried Line. Meanwhile on 11 November, the U.S.Seventh Army to the south launched an attack eastward capturing Saarebourg on 20November 1944. Moving rapidly, it outflanked, then penetrated the vital Saverne Gap inthe Vosges Mountains. Sending the French 2nd Armored Division to liberate Strasbourgon the Rhine River, the U.S. Seventh Army turned northward advancing along the westbank of the Rhine against the defenses of the Siegfried Line, simultaneously aiding theU.S. Third Army’s operations to the north.Throughout these operations, the U.S. Ninth Air Force and the U.S. First TacticalAir Force rendered vital air support to the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies, respectively,despite severe rainstorms and cold weather.The progress of the two U.S. armies was halted temporarily by the enemy’s finalmajor counteroffensive of the war, which began in the Ardennes Forest on 16 December1944. Officially designated the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, it became known as the“Battle of the Bulge.” The U.S. Third Army moved quickly northward to counter thisthreat, as the U.S. Seventh Army and the French First Army to its south extended theirlines northward to cover more front. The second phase of the enemy’s finalcounteroffensive was launched on New Year’s eve against the U.S. Seventh Army andthe French First Army. The assault began as a drive for the Saverne Gap followed by an

attack across the Rhine toward Strasbourg. After furious fighting on all fronts in bitterly

cold weather, the last major enemy offensive was halted and the U.S. Third and SeventhArmies resumed their assault on the Siegfried Line. The line was soon broken and allenemy units were cleared from the west bank of the Rhine. In March 1945, the two U.S.armies crossed the Rhine River and began their drive into Germany.

My father, an Army Pfc, was killed in WWII, when I was barely 6, on Dec 8, 1944. He was in Company A, 17th Battalion, 5th Regiment, 179th Infantry, 7th Army, and had been in theater only a month or so when he was killed.

I’m hoping that one of you historians can help me determine where his organization was fighting, at the time, and what major offensive, or defensive they were involved with. I believe that he was in the Alsace-Lorraine area between Germany and France, if that helps. He is buried in the US National Cemetery in St. Avold, France near the border across from Stuttgart.

I am trying to update our Family tree on Ancestry.Com with accurate data, and also establish a more detailed family record.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Might be Co. A, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division -- which was part of the 7th Army.

During the period you mention, the 7th Army had pushed up to the German border in the area of St-Avold and Bitche. IIRC, the units were reducing German fortified positions that used old Maginot Line forts as their basis.

I just joined today and was looking for references to the Vosges (my father was in the 7th Army--and relieved the 45th in November). Here's from the pamphlet history of the Thunderbird Division for the month he was in combat. It sounds as though he might have died in the fighting for Niederbronn. I hope this helps.

"In the Vosges woods, troops engaged in rugged fighting. It was November and winter had come again. Cold and rain retarded forward movement. Density of the forests made observation difficult and sharp hand-to-hand clashes became routine.

Still, the division pressed on, taking St. Benoit, crossing the Meurthe River and liberating Houseras, after clearing multiple road blocks challenging the advance.

After 86 days in which the entire division had been committed, the 45th moved to a rest area south of Epinal. Some units remained active, attached to other elements of Seventh Army. Many Thunderbird troops enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner in the rest area. After two weeks the 45th was ready for action once more.

Now it was pushing forward into the Vosges mountains, probing for a weak spot that would open Army's advance through the mountain passes. Following in the wake of an adjacent French unit, the 45th moved to Baccarat, Sarrebourg and through the Saverne Gap on to Gougenheim. The 179th Infantry, temporarily attached to the French 2nd D.B. (Armored), cracked forts north of Mutzig, one of the heavily-defended anchors of the Maginot Line.

As they moved through Alsace, clearing the enemy from Obermodern, Utterwiller, Kindwiller and Bitschhoffe, 45th doughs found Alsatians speaking less French and more German. Attacking enemy strongpoints at Zinswiller, the Thunderbird forced Germans to pull out of Pfaffenoffen, Ueberach and La Walck.

Towns succumbing to the 45th's advance were many, but the story was fundamentally the same: stiff opposition, road blocks, mines, artillery, mud, cold. Always, the forward movement continued.

EARLY December, the division crossed the Zintzel River and captured Niederbronn-les-bains after slugging it out with a stubborn enemy. Now the 45th was in Maginot country. Defenses that once were erected to keep Germans out of France now were turned against the 45th. Reichshoffen and Langesoulzbach fell before the advance._____________